The present invention relates, in general, to skates.
Skates, whether of the ice skate, roller skate or in-line variety, typically include a boot, a use element, such as an ice blade, rollers, or in-line rollers as well as a use element holder which receives the use element and is attachable to the boot.
Typically, a plurality of rivets are used to fixedly attach the holder to the boot sole. In the case of ice skates, the riveted attachment of the holder and blade requires that the entire boot, blade holder and blade be held or mounted in a fixture for sharpening in a blade sharpening machine. Due to the size of the ice skate, this is difficult to do in a manner which insures that the blade is held stationary during the entire sharpening process for the formation of a consistent edge.
In use, skates are subject to frequent start and stops. This generates high lateral torque forces which are transmitted to the rivets and which frequently result in breakage or damage of the rivets. This requires frequent replacement of the rivets which, at best, is a time-consuming process and renders the skate inoperative for the length of the repair process.
In ice hockey skates, a blade holder is commonly used to fixedly mount an ice runner or blade to an ice skate boot. The blade holder is formed with enlargements and recesses which receive the head of a shank of a fastener. An opposite threaded end of the shank extends into a recess in the holder where a nut is mounted in a recess on the inside of the holder to secure the shank and the attached blade to the blade holder. Rivets are then applied to the peripheral edge of the blade holder to fixedly secure the blade holder and the attached blade to the boot sole.
However, repair or replacement of such a blade requires the removal of the numerous rivets to separate the blade holder from the boot in order to enable access to and removal of the nut to release the runner or blade from the blade holder. The process must be repeated in a reverse order to attach a new blade or a sharpened blade to the blade holder and the blade holder back on the boot sole.
It is believed that skates can be further improved relative to the blade holder and the replaceable blade.